Turkey’s fifth-generation KAAN fighter will have to use engines designed to power older F-16s. [Turkish Aerospace Industry]
When Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomes his US counterpart Donald Trump in Ankara for the July 7-8 NATO Summit, the latter will bring with him a gift: US approval for the release of a batch of fighter jet engines for KAAN, Turkey’s homegrown fifth-generation fighter jet.
This looks like a significant boost for Turkey’s air force.
However, Erdogan’s primary objective of rejoining the US-led F-35 fighter program continues to appear out of reach.
Hence the “gift,” actually a sale, of 80 General Electric F110-129E engines looks more like a sop.
